It started as SID, named for a rabbit who had been named after Sid Vicious from the movie Sid and Nancy, which was the favorite for Chris Hill and Stephen Jones.
Grohe Faucets had approached Hill to suggest he set up shop on his own so they could work with him directly. That was the simple formation of SID, which later became Strategies in Design.
Their design firm started in 1989.
And by January 1990, Hill and Jones were working together.
"With a large client like Grohe to pay the bills, SID was able to go after the clients it thought would be fun," Jones said. "We prepared a mailer introducing ourselves that would fit into our #10 envelopes, so we could save on printing and sent it to five potential clients."
Two responded right away: Berlin Nightclub and Hanig's Footwear.
Art Johnston, meanwhile, the co-owner of Sidetrack in Lake View, tacked their flyer to his wall to keep an eye on them. Two years later, after seeing what they had been doing for Berlin and ActUp, Sidetrack became a client, too.
"When Art called, we said we could not talk to [Sidetrack] until we confirmed with Berlin that it was OK. Turns out Art and [Sidetrack co-owner Jose] 'Pepe [Pena] had offered generous assistance to Tim Sullivan and Shirley Mooney when they opened Berlin, so they were willing to share us."
Hill and Jones remain, into 2015, an integral part of Sidetrack's success—and others, too, in the gay community.
"Sidetrack has been a 23-year series of highlights," Jones said. "Our first assignment was for the [Sidetrack] 10th Anniversary, [and mind you the bar celebrated its 33rd year in 2015], when the team of Budweiser Clydesdales visited Sidetrack and closed down North Halsted [Street].
"Supporting the opening of Glass Bar [at Sidetrack], helping name the slushies, and working with [former general manager] Chuck Hyde on designing the crayon float and the race at float are also highlights, along with being Facebook friend No. 1 with thousands of posts and photos earning Sidetrack nearly 15,000 Facebook friends now."
Hill added that he is most proud of the annual summer shirt logos and the website that he learned to do at the behest of Team Sidetrack.
"Since before our 10th anniversary, Stephen Jones and Chris Hill have been the brilliant talents creating, developing [and] producing the graphic design which communicates what is Sidetrack," Johnston said. "We are most fortunate to have had Stephen and Chris on the same team with us since 1982. We will miss them terribly."
That's because Hill and Jones are leaving their Bucktown home and Chicago in late August. They are moving Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Hill does fine art sculptures, and has been featured at Ann Nathan Gallery in River North since 1996. But now his work is "becoming ever more in demand" in the Southwest, with his showing at Tansey Contemporary in Santa Fe.
Plus, the oldest florist in Santa Fe came on the market. Barton's Flowers, established in 1962, did not have a logo, or a sign, or a custom website. Hill and Jones stepped in.
In less than a month since Hill and Jones took control of Barton's, the city has been very welcoming, Jones said. "The mayor came out as gay during the election and was elected with a strong majority. Marriage equality came to New Mexico before it came to Illinois, so Santa Fe has proven to be a popular wedding destination for the community."
Hill added, "The palpable 'art vibe' is really inspiring to us and to the florists working at the shop."
Their first week included 14 deliveries and by week three, with the addition of a logo, social media [presence], window and vehicle signs printed in Chicago by American Signs but Tomorrow and thirst from Wicker Park's Propaganda, Barton's was doing 15 deliveries a day, they said proudly.
"[I am] most proud of the fact that during this transition [the] friends we made in Chicago will continue to be part of our lives and SID:Santa Fe, since Hanig's and Berlin will continue to be clients in addition to special assignments from Sidetrack," Jones said.
Hill, 53, grew up in Boonville, Mississippi, and moved with a girlfriend to West Chicago in 1983 and lived in her sister's basement while he worked at Arby's. Hill eventually went to College of DuPage, studying design then graduated from the American Academy of Art where he later taught desktop publishing. Jones, 57, grew up in Clinton, Iowa, and Indianapolis, and graduated from Auburn University with a degree in interior architecture and then got his MBA from Indiana University.
The gay men on July 23 celebrated the 29th anniversary of the day they met on the Belmont Rocks—and their anniversary, though they did get married on March 15, 2014. It was Chris' first time finding the 'gay beach' and it was Stephen's first day back in Chicago after living in New York for a year. With two days before his new ad agency job was to start, Jones went to the Rocks to maintain his Fire Island tan, he said, and fortuitously put his towel on the rock next to Chris', he admitted.
"We met while Chris was still in college and [I] was an account supervisor at Euro RSCG Advertising after previously working at Leo Burnett. After graduation Chris worked at two small River North graphic design firms," Jones said.
This was, mind you, during the era when ActUp Chicago was making noise, Hill said.
Partnered and still new to the gay community, Hill and Jones' exposure to the gay community was the people they met at Berlin, Sidetrack and Christopher Street.
And when Hill learned that Al, a favorite doorman at Sidetrack, died from AIDS, he was motivated to find a place to work off his anger and heartbreak, he said.
Hill found his way into ACT UP.
"Some of our fondest [early] memories are using our Berlin connection to have the bar serve as host to the post-demonstration party for the 1990 National ActUp demonstration against the AMA," Hill said. "With the screens broadcasting the news coverage, the crowd gave heroes welcomes to those entering the bar after their releases from jail.
"Parties at Berlin with Pussy Tourette and the Del Rubio Triplets were Berlin highlights, too."
Jones added, "Just as SID was starting, Act Up was exploding with energy. Up until 1980 activist and cartoonist Danny Sotomayer was handling most [of] the propaganda, but as Danny became the energetic spokesman and 'soul' of Act Up Chicago, Chris became the propaganda committee, working with others on the posters, flyers and t-shirts of the organization. And with a FAX machine, copier and computers, [which were] much less common in 1990, SID became the de-facto office of Act Up, particularly in the lead-up to the April 1990 demos."
Jones later became the treasurer because he still had suits from his days working at ad agencies, so conducting business at the Oak Street Bank was easier for him.
Their memories aren't just old. In fact, they said that working with Sidetrack's Brad Balof, Bill Stadt and Bryan Smith on the Market Days booths and 2014's Halloween Sideshow awning and graphics and helping launch the successful OUTspoken! storytelling events also are highlights.
"The business has radically changed," Hill said. "The early 2000s were occupied with lots of big budget real estate projects, like The Dakota and Banknote Place. Real estate has moved to nearly all digital. The number of publications have dropped and therefore the need for ads has dropped. Gay Chicago, Chicago Free Press, Time Out Chicago are gone and Nightspots merged with Windy City Times. Events are becoming more important at the bars and support for them is frequently digital with some marketing materials being generated by the promoters rather than the venue."
